Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for, in the same way, they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
In a fearful and paranoid culture, how do we avoid an unwarranted persecution complex?
We live in a culture that increasingly traffics in fear and anxiety. Even if we can’t figure out exactly who the culprits are, we believe that someone, somewhere, is out to get us. And even if some think we are being paranoid, we might argue as Joseph Heller did in his novel, Catch-22, “Just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean they aren’t after you!” We may be wrong in the particulars, but surely we are right to be fearful and anxious.
Politically, our culture has been polarized into visibly warring camps. Each side sees the other as implacable enemies who are out to do them in. In our Christian churches, a similar division has hardened into unyielding sides. Ironically, identifying our cause with God’s mission causes us to be even more virulent in our conflict with one another than our secular colleagues. As Elton Trueblood insightfully observed, “religious enemies are the fiercest there are.”
So today, how are we to hear Jesus’ words about being persecuted? How do we avoid an unwarranted persecution complex, “an irrational and obsessive feeling or fear that one is the object of collective hostility or ill-treatment on the part of others?” (Oxford Languages)
There are three phrases in Jesus’ last Beatitude which helps me understand the distinctive nature of the persecution Jesus is describing.
First, Jesus describes persecution that is “because of righteousness.” As I have noted before, “righteousness” is not just moral behavior per se (although that is included), but it is at its root about “covenant faithfulness.” It means a way of life that seeks to love God and neighbor. It seeks the peace and well-being (in Hebrew, shalom) of the community one lives in, even at a cost to oneself. Notice how that connects with Jesus’ immediately prior Beatitude about peacemakers being the children of God.
Second, Jesus describes persecution that is “because of me.” Israel’s understanding of what it means to live in “covenant faithfulness” or “righteousness” is reimagined in Jesus’ own life and teaching. As the rest of the Sermon on the Mount will make clear, Jesus raises the stakes for what it means to be truly human. Jesus might very well have said to his generation, like the lead character in the movie Mr. Holland’s Opus, “Your best is not good enough!” Jesus embodies (and teaches) a way of life that is radically generous, hospitable, and sacrificial – a “righteousness (that) surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law” (Matthew 5:20, NIV). Ironically, persecution ensues because people are threatened by the appearance of the God of self-sacrificial love they claim to worship.
And that brings us, thirdly, to Jesus describing persecution “the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” The ancient Hebrew prophets were charged with telling people what was good and what was true. And when people don’t like the truth, the only option they have left is to lie. When people oppose what is good, the only option left is to engage in “all kinds of evil.” As the Apostle John wrote, “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people love darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.” (John 3:19-20, NIV). As Israel’s prophets learned long ago, living and telling the truth often results in violent opposition. Jesus reminds us that we should expect no less, whether in the first century or in the 21st.
But, in that context, Jesus says something astonishing and countercultural. Instead of becoming fearful and anxious at the prospect of persecution, and retreating to our corners to prepare for “the final battle,” Jesus says, “Rejoice and be glad.” And here’s why:
Be glad that you are already on the right side of truth and history. “Great is your reward in heaven.”
Be glad that you are identified with Jesus. “For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe in him but also to suffer for him” (Philippians 1:29, NIV).
And be glad that your suffering is bearing good fruit in the world. Like the Apostle, Paul said, “That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:10, NIV).
Jesus’ vision of persecution and of our rightful response to it couldn’t be more different from our contemporary paranoia, conspiracy theories, and persecution complexes. Instead of evoking fear, anxiety, and hatred, Jesus calls us to respond with faith, hope, and love.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way, they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
How do we live faithfully in a secular world?
“But it seems that something has happened that has never happened before … Men have left GOD, not for other gods, they say, but for no god; and this has never happened before that men both deny gods and worship gods, professing first Reason, And then Money, and Power” (T.S. Eliot, Choruses from “The Rock”).
In the first century, Christians and Jews were thought to be atheists. That may strike us as odd since both Jews and Christians were deeply committed to the one God. But that was the problem. In the first century, almost everyone worshiped many gods, so worshiping only one meant that you didn’t believe in the rest. So, in that sense at least, they were treated as atheists.
Today the world is a different place. As T.S. Eliot observed almost a century ago, our culture has “left GOD, not for other gods, they say, but for no god.” The secular world – in which most of us live and work – claims to be a “god-free zone.” There are historical reasons for this, not least Europe’s religious wars of centuries ago, which caused many to see religion itself as the evil to be avoided. And of course, such religious violence is not an issue merely of a time long past. Even in our “enlightened secular age,” religious zeal leads many to do unimaginably destructive things.
So, is a “god-free zone” a good thing?
From a Christian perspective, I would suggest that the answer is more complex than it might first appear. Given humanity’s universal fallenness, religion can easily become a tool of violence and oppression. It can be used to curry favor, to gain an advantage over others, and to press one’s own agenda. We can easily try to “use God” for our own purposes. “God told me” can easily become a tool for making an idol to help us exercise power over others. “I’m a Christian” can easily become a means for marginalizing (rather than being hospitable to) those who are not. In that sense, “a god-free zone” – perhaps an “idol-free zone” would be a more accurate description – is a good thing.
But Eliot’s quote shows another danger. “Men both deny gods and worship gods, professing first Reason, And then Money, and Power.” In our attempt to keep religious violence and oppression out of our workplaces, it is easy to fool ourselves into thinking that we can cease being human. Human beings are not machines. We are creatures that have meaning and purpose deeply wired into our being. We can’t help worshiping something or someone. We can worship “Reason, And then Money, and Power.” Or we can worship the Living God.
As the last century has amply demonstrated, reason, money, and power are great tools for human flourishing but are poor objects of worship. In that sense, creating a “god-free zone” is an illusion. As Eliot saw clearly, even though we can say that we have “left GOD, not for other gods … but for no god,” that claim is misleading. “Reason, And then Money, and Power” will take GOD’s place. And so it has come to pass in our 21st-century workplaces.
So what does this have to do with Jesus’ Beatitude about persecution?
As Jesus’ Beatitude suggests, persecution can take many forms. It would be easy to associate persecution with only the deadly variety. But Jesus understands that there are many kinds of opposition to faithful living, including verbal insults and people who “falsely say all kinds of evil against you.”
Persecution can also come from surprising quarters. In our generation, leaders can face opposition from both ends of the religious spectrum. We are pressured at the same time to be both more religious and less religious in our secular workplaces. On the one hand, we are accused of being unfaithful because we are not “more explicitly Christian” in our secular workplaces. On the other, we are told to keep our Christian convictions to ourselves and out of the public square. What are we to do as leaders who seek to follow Jesus faithfully?
In God’s providence, we each find ourselves in different contexts that require particular kinds of responses. As a personal example, when I ran my own company, I did not make my Christian commitment an expectation for my employees. Of course, I hoped that my own convictions and way of being would be appealing to and persuasive for them. But I didn’t want anyone to feel that they had to share my faith commitment as a condition of their employment or to grow in their responsibilities. At the same time, I made no secret of my faith. And perhaps more importantly, I tried to embody in the structure and culture of the company those practices rooted in the Christian tradition that led to flourishing for everyone in the company – such as respect for work-life balance, a recognition of people’s many different gifts, and a mutual commitment to serving our customers and one another.
Being faithful leaders in the 21st century secular workplaces is an art and requires that we avoid both Christian and secular idolatry. Those may seem like odd adjectives – Christian and secular – to apply to the ancient category of idolatry. But because we are, to the core, creatures of meaning and purpose, both God and the idols of our Christian and secular cultures are unavoidable along the way. As T.S. Eliot reminds us, our choice is which we intend to serve and worship. Even in our most secular work contexts.
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